Midwest Mahjar: The Recorded Sounds of the Arabic-Speaking Diaspora in the United States at 78 RPM

Anthony George Shaptini (Singer) Anthony George Shaptini in his WWI uniform, c. 1918.  Photo courtesy of Anthony Shaptini's daughter, Diane. Anthony George Shaptini was born Anthony Elias George on 29 July 1893 in Saint Louis, Missouri to Elias and Mary George, immigrants to the United States from Chabtine, Greater Syria (now Lebanon). Mary George had four sons, Anthony was her second child, and three daughters. One document suggests Anthony was baptized at Saint Mary’s Church in Saint Louis.  Although most documents list Saint Louis as Anthony’s birthplace, the 1895 Iowa Census lists his birthplace as Syria. Much of his life is a mystery, but we occasionally catch glimpses of details in his life only to have him slip quietly back into obscurity. Approximately, thirteen hundred Syrians lived in Iowa by 1907 and about 2500 lived in Missouri in the same year. According to Najeeb Abdo, Saint Louis had the fifth largest Syrian population than any ...

Odette Kaddo Odette Kaddo, 1956. From 23 May 1957, The Caravan.   One of the major differences between first wave and second wave Arab immigrant musicians to the United States is the enormous amount of press coverage Arab expressive culture received in the Arab American press during and after World War II. This is the case for both Arab-language and English-language newspapers targeted at readers of Arab descent. Careful study of Al-Hoda newspaper in the 1910s and 1920s and The Syrian World in the 1920s and 1930s turned up very little information about Arab or Arab American record labels and musicians during this era.  Similar examination of the Arab American press during and after World War II yielded exponentially more about the haflas, mahrajans, phonograph record labels, and musicians popularly known in Arab American communities across the United States. The growth and technological developments in recorded sound after WWII meant that secon...

Wadeeh Bagdady Photograph of Wadeeh Bagdady from the Arabphon Catalogue. Courtesy of William Albert Ansara.  In 1920 New York, as the Victor Talking Machine Company and Columbia Phonograph Company moved out of the Arabic-language record market, long-time phonograph dealer turned record producer A.J. Macksoud and composer and music teacher Alexander Maloof created their respective namesake record labels that all but cornered the market on Syrian/Lebanese phonograph records for the next ten to fifteen years. Both Abraham J. Macksoud and Alexander Maloof operated their businesses in New York’s Little Syria, which centered around Washington Street from Battery Park to Rector Street. Singer and oudist Louis Wardiny and vocalist Salim Doumani cut a majority’s share of the known songs on both the Macksoud and Maloof labels. Both companies employed violin virtuoso Naim Karacand in their labels’ ensembles and Karacand figured prominently on a number of bo...